A woman was found guilty yesterday of murdering her mother and dumping her body in a stream.

Lisa Brown (21) battered Anne Brown (51) to death in her home in Ayrshire last year and used her car to dispose of her body in a nearby burn.

Her former boyfriend John Wilson (25) was convicted of the lesser charge of culpable homicide at the High Court in Glasgow.

Brown and Wilson were also found guilty of a second charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by disposing of the victim's body and washing bloodstained clothes.

The trial heard the couple travelled to the home of divorced nurse Anne at Laigh Gree, Burnhouse, in Ayrshire, in a dispute over a child in her care.

Brown then battered her mother with a blunt object, thought to have been a foot-long torch, inflicting 49 injuries on her mother's face and neck.

Wilson helped his former girlfriend put the body into a sleeping bag and a builder's sack, which they tied up with twine and chain.

They then drove to Clerkland Burn in the victim's car and dumped her body.

It was found by police search teams on October 24 as part of a missing persons hunt sparked by Anne own mother, who informed police of her disappearance.

Judge Lord Matthews told the pair: “You have been convicted of an appalling offence.”

Anne brother, Michael Elliot, welcomed the conviction and spoke of his “disgust” at the image portrayed in court of his sister by her killers. He said: “Yes, Anne had pressures in her life which were incumbent with being a single parent, but our abiding memory of Anne is of a warm, loving and giving person who would always help anyone in distress, sometimes to her own detriment.

“She was a loving daughter, sister and mother who gave selflessly of herself to those close to her.

“We would also add that we feel it is reprehensible that neither of the accused in this tragic case has expressed any remorse for their part in this heinous crime.”

“Neither has either accused shown any recognition of the impact the tissue of lies that has been offered to defend the indefensible has had on our family.”